Bachelor of Arts
in
English: Secondary Education

Explore the profound power of language. Learn to appreciate the ways in which creative writing can capture the essence of the human condition. Courses promote understanding, analysis, and evaluation of a wide range of authors, characters, themes, plots, and styles in world literature. By identifying the techniques and impacts of successful writers, you develop your expressive abilities and discover your own voice and styles through the written word. The skills you gain as an English major, including the ability to write, analyze material and communicate effectively, are valuable in many different fields.

This degree program was developed for those who want to teach at the secondary level. You will gain hands-on, in-classroom experiences. Prospective secondary education teachers learn how to identify and be sensitive to the unique needs, challenges and learning styles of diverse student populations.
For detailed curriculum and more please visit the University Catalog entry for this program.

English Major Courses

Introductory Course (one required)

Contemporary Literature | ENG 10223
Consists of analytical and reflective reading of contemporary (since 1945) American fiction, poetry and drama. Attention to developing techniques for critical reading and writing. Basic course for literature majors and study in the humanities and liberal arts.

Introduction to Literature | ENG 20223
Survey of the major genres of literature (short story, poetry, drama) with emphasis on the organizational principles that give artistic structure or integrity. Intensive studies of such elements as characterization, plot, setting, tone, symbolism, etc conducted.

Survey Courses

From Homer to Herrick | ENG 26023
Engages in primary analysis and response to significant literature from antiquity through the Renaissance.

From Voltaire to Victoria | ENG 27023
Engages in primary analysis and response to significant literature from the era of Confucius and the Enlightenment through the late nineteenth century.

From Wilde to Wai-Lin | ENG 28023
Engages the student in primary analysis and response to significant literature from late nineteenth century
Modernism through post-colonial and post-modern configurations.

Linguistics Course

The English Language | ENG 32523
Treats history and development of the English language with special attention to grammar, syntax and phonetics. Applies various linguistic approaches to the task of understanding evolution and system of
the language. Not designed to treat special problems in speaking or writing English.

Environmental Literature | ENG 33523
An examination of a variety of literary works from several genres, focusing on the portrayal of physical environments and the connections between these environments and human spheres of influence. This
course will explore how human beings relate to the natural world, and how that relation influences the way we read texts and the world around us, Authors to be studied might include Leopold, Thoreau, Defoe, the Brontes, Wordsworth, Merwin, Snyder and Kingsolver.

Protest Literature | ENG 34023
A study of the literature of social protest, emphasizing the relationship between aesthetics and politics, or the political purposes of literature. This course will examine how various authors assault the status quo of an often inhumane, brutal, and repressive society. Readings might include works by Richard Wright, Upton Sinclair and Nelson Algren.

Peace Literature | ENG 36023
Literature, from ancient to modern times, has taken up themes of peace and sought to examine the fragile
dynamics of the human community. This course will explore the literature that offers reflections, sorrowful
and hopeful, pragmatic and prophetic, on peace.

Literature of Personal Discovery | ENG 37023
Questions of identity and self-definition, from agonizing to liberating, in the work of such writers as Dante, Franz Kafka, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Kate Chopin, Simone de Beauvoir, Ralph Ellison and Anne Sexton.

Literary Criticism | ENG 40123
Identifies major trends in the history of critical thought from Plato to Derrida. Seeks to discover the position of literary criticism and to apply various critical theories. Library research and writing.

Seminars (*required; choose one other)

Shakespeare Seminar | ENG 41823
Examines major dramas to discover questions and themes central to individual plays and to the work as a whole. Attention is given to the historical and cultural context of the plays, but the course is primarily concerned with assisting students in reading and exploring the texts.

Seminar in British Literature | ENG 45123
Analyzes major British literature with emphasis on genre, period or author, to gain understanding of the critical approaches necessary for a thorough investigation of literature.

Seminar in American Literature* | ENG 45023
Analyzes major American literature with emphasis on genre, period or author, to gain understanding of the critical approaches necessary for a thorough investigation of literature.

Capstone Course

Integrative Seminar in Criticism | ENG 49201
Capstone course that guides student in development of an integrative project that demonstrates achievement of the learning outcomes in the English major. Course is organized around the major trends in critical thought and application of literary criticism theories within and across periods and genres.

Add a Minor

Add any of Ottawa University's minors to your degree to take it to the next level. A minor consists of at least 20 credit hours of which at least half of the credit hours are completed at Ottawa University.